Back In Canada - Beautiful Vancouver

So after all this travelling.....I am now back in 'nice clean follow the rules' Canada. It's going to be hard getting used to doing things on my own and for myself.....but you cant have everything all the time. I have had a lovely two months of doing some interesting work and meeting people and friends and family - the hardest thing to battle has been the hot weather...but even that was forgotten when the warmth of family and friends took over.

I uploaded some photos of Vancouver taken from the windows of the apartment of my friends...but I didn't write any text......

So anyone reading this.....I hope you have enjoyed this account of my past two months...I have certainly had fun writing about it all...

Until next time....Au revoir.

Ashe

Shopping at Delhi's Dilli-Haat

This enterprising man is from Pondicherry, the former French colony on the east coast of India and he makes earrings, pedants and goodness knows what else from coconut shells and they are are really nicely made in different colours (depending on the age of the coconut). We bought some and now my daughter Serena has placed a request with her Aunty Venita to bring her anchor shaped earrings and a pendant, because that is the "in" thing...the anchors that is. I was really impressed with his workmanship.


Mr. Musicman here will sell you one of these lovely one stringed instruments with a bow. He can produce beautiful melodies but you will never be able to replicate them.....but it's still fun to think you can buy one and do what he does.


Pearls of wisdom: When shopping for little things...just relax and enjoy the experience.

Delhi (Gurgaon)

Chaat Time in Delhi with Venita and Jag


a


Don't miss the modern apartment buildings in Gurgaon











Pearls of wisdom: No matter how modern we get..our taste for certain foods remains the same

Ghosts from the past - Lucknow Residency

If it wasn't for the pleasant green grounds and the more recently planted palm trees...I believe this place would be eerie and ghostly. I didn't hear of any ghost stories related to this place...but I bet there are some.






A trip to the Residency was a fitting way to say goodbye to Lucknow...the centre of so much history in the past and still the centre for so much that India stands for today....a quaint mixture of different religions, people, customs and foods and lets not forget the schools - some of the best the country has to offer.

Lucknow Residency

A memorial to several people who died here.

The building near it is the church that was destroyed.....should be quite eerie..but I saw young couples visiting the place..sitting in the shelter of tombstones.

Probably feels a little creepy after daylight hours.

The remains of the Residency in Lucknow

The Residency was the seat of the British rulers in Lucknow (the Nawab was merely a figure head by then)when the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 (according to the British)or the first war for independence (according to the Indians) took place.


I will not elaborate on the reasons why this happened...but it is worth looking up for those who don't know. During the course of this war the Lucknow Residency was under siege by many of the Indian troops who were on the outside. Cannon balls were fired from large cannons and one can see the shots in many of the walls. During the siege the residency was completely destroyed. Many lives were lost during this time and my understanding is that although a few died of wounds sustained during the siege, large numbers died from disease and lack of proper care.

On my last day in Lucknow my cousin Inderjit took me to the Residency grounds. The grounds are well maintained and it is interesting to see the remains of the buildings...almost nothing is left standing, The museum on the grounds has some interesting paintings and sketches and a model of what the Residency looked like in its glory days.

Relaxing after another interview

On returning to Lucknow, to visit my cousins, I did one more interview with a couple we could not get earlier. It was a hot afternoon when I returned...and peeked into one of the bedrooms to see who was up...as it was siesta time. Aunty Barri was there....so I lay down on the bed and we chatted for a while....I think Kavita came in and took this photo. I remember how nice and cool it felt to be indoors. Although Aunty Gypsie had sent me in the car with air-conditioning...just a few minutes in the heat of 37C was enough to exhaust me. These are the kinds of memories
I will carry and share with my children.

Fashion Show in Lucknow - fabulous show

Amrita was sent an invitation to a fashion show by the Ministry of Textiles and some of us went along. It was really well done. Beautiful models, wonderful clothing and we had front row seats (thanks to Amrita's influence). The man from the ministry must have written his speech in a hurry. I have never known the word "beautiful" to be so generously used in a 5 minute speech...."beautiful venue" "beautiful event"...he went on and on. Amrita and I were finding it hard to control ourselves. After this "beautiful event"...and it truly was well done, we went out to a meal at a Lucknow Dhabba (like a roadside stand)...the food was great and much enjoyed by us.

However,little did we realize that our attendance at the fashion show would lead to our photos coming out in the Hidustan Times the next day. I mean the man with the "beautiful" speech missed out on having his photo and we made it. Nice souvenir to bring back from Lucknow.


Infront of the Bara Dari (the old palace of the Nawab...Mita, Rohina and myself...unfortunately, my battery in the camera was running low and we could only manage a few photos.










Notice that man in the glasses?



...Amrita and I had decided he should be considered a "letch"....he really had an odd way of checking out the models. Also,it looked like the entire male staff of the Govt. offices of Ministry of Textiles was there in large numbers....

Pearls of Wisdom: Among the swans there is always a wolf on the prowl!

Lucknow Club and garden scenes

Some more scenes of the lovely garden.







Kavita and I took to walking barefoot on the dew in the mornings (it's supposed to be beneficial) and then taking a short walk in the lane running alongside their home.

















The bird bath....a hawk came here regularly in the mornings to get his sip of water.












At the Lucknow Club. A very nice club with all kinds of ameneties. We enjoyed some drinks with delicious food with friends of the Dass'. I was laughing because this gentleman was trying to talk Punjabi (he said his mother was from there)but not doing too well.

Yup! let's make sure we have the right beer...and we want that really chilled. I believe it was the Kingfisher label that was being ordered.

peacocks, Pasha and pretty good companions

my travelling companions enroute to Lucknow. The lady in blue was an entertaining individual with a lot of stories to tell and a great deal of interest in everyone. The lady in red was a great listener.

Oliver (named by Amrita as in "please ma'am may I have some more?") the Peacock.

Aunty Gypsie with Pasha..who seems to be wondering if the flower is edible.
A lovely view of the dahlias...the cook is standing in the doorway talking to the gardner.


Pearls of Wisdom: A long journey becomes short when traveled with the right companions, whether human or otherwise.

Photos: people and places of interest

The first place Zarina and I went for an interview. This is the building of the well established Christian school...where we had a talk with the Principal.





A beautiful specimen of a Dahlia in the Dass garden

Front view of the Dass home in Lucknow
View of a village from the train enroute to Lucknow
Stella and Sarwar's youngest grand-daughter




Pearls of wisdom: Absorb all you can..for you may not pass this way again.

some Delhi images

Suraj and family going for an outing. I don't think they went very far. He has a nice SUV which seats his family quite comfortably. However, it is not unusual to see families travel like this, sometimes carrying odd bundles and gizmos in their hands.

Chuki Mayadas

Lovely photo of Chuki Mayadas in their home. I visited them one last time before leaving for Lucknow a second time. I didn't think I would have time on my way back, and I was right.

I seem to spend almost a day exhausted from the heat and tired from the travel, just rearranging my suitcases for the next place. I would leave one bag with the unnecessary things behind when leaving for a new destination. The problem was I didn't always stay with the same people on my return. So they would have to deliver my suitcase to the new location or we would have to find a suitable in-between place to do the pickup. Thank goodness for wonderful relatives...who didn't seem to mind my showing up for just an overnight so I could catch the train in the early morning from their house as they were the closest to the Railway Station. Stella (my cousin)and family were wonderful for this. Suraj her son got up with me (and so did Stella and her husband)to drive me on two occasions to the New Delhi Railway Station. We would wake up around 4 am as the train left for Lucknow at 6:15 am...and the ride was atleast 45 minutes. On the last drive....Suraj made it in 1/2 hour.....Thank you Suraj, I will never forget this.

Pearls of Wisdom: Stay calm amidst the clamour of useless noise and the serenity you have will rub off on others. It may even give you a glow.

Final days in Bangalore

The leaves of the Camel Foot Tree (obviously not the biological name)Arul pointed out the tree to me outside the Emmanual Baptist Church. Apparently there are many streets in Bangalore with this tree growing along the sides. Arul said the newspapers once sent out free seeds to their readers and that was the result....hundreds of Camel Foot Trees are now growing all over Bangalore. Funny thing is if he hadn't have pointed out the peculiar shape of the leaf, I probably would not have noticed.


Daya, Aunty Lilla and myself on our final day. Aunty is now so frail that it is just about impossible for her to stand straight on her own. One thing is for sure...if you have her with you anywhere...people immediately vacate their seats or run to help in some way.

It is hard to make Aunty smile...but sometimes just the right words at the right time and she beams. I think at this time I remarked the coconut seemed way too large for her.

Lovely jasmine flowers which grow around the house and the scent wafts into our bedrooms in the early morning or when we sat in the side verandah for our 5 o'clock tea.
I think the scent of the jasmine will remind me of my lovely restful stay in Bangalore.

Library and grounds of United Theological College - Bangalore

The beautiful grounds of the UTC where Aunty and I went on a lovely warm morning....very well maintained. The purple-blue flowered trees are the Jacaranda trees.
The grounds and trees were so beautiful...One just felt like lingering there longer.

Students relaxing in the shade


I took several shots of the library building...it is a very imposing building...I don't think my pictures do it justice.

Aunty Lilla and I went together, as I was interested in seeing some papers pertaining to our relative Ben Chandulal who baptised Sadhu Sunder Singh (the Christian Sadhu - or Holyman)who was a relatively unconventional Christian minister. He adheared to the Indian way of life and clothing but was much respected by all for his spiritual ways. Aunty Lilla wanted to donate some journals of hers. I also mentioned to the head librarian the writings of Zenobia Lewis Mayadas "A Tale of Three Continents" and she said they would love to have a copy.

We did not stay long as walking up the ramp to the Library was exercise enough for Aunty. However, I did make a mental note of returning there someday and enjoying their grounds.